Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie Blu-ray Review

"Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie" comes to Blu-Ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that performs well given the source material. While the simplistic Flash animation may not match the complexity of titles like "Futurama" or "Archer," the video presentation remains sharp and clean. The 1.85:1 aspect ratio complements the visual style, delivering punchy and vibrant colors that retain a crisp appeal from a normal viewing distance. The occasional artifacts, such as minor aliasing around character edges and some fleeting banding in background elements like walls and skies, are present but do not significantly detract from the overall viewing experience.

The transfer effectively balances contrast, with deep, consistent black levels that enhance the colorful palette. While the overall picture maintains a somewhat flat appearance due to the rudimentary animation style, the vivid colors and sharp clarity help to rectify this limitation. There's no evidence of blotchy compression issues, harsh pixilation, or encoding glitches, ensuring a smooth visual performance.

Despite the periodic artifacts, the video presentation is robust, rendering the modest animation style with notable precision. The bright primaries pop well on screen, offering a visually engaging experience. The color saturation and overall sharpness suggest an accurate representation true to the developer's intent. For fans and newcomers alike, "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie" delivers a satisfying visual performance that respects its genre and origin.

The audio presentation of "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie" on Blu Ray features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track in English, along with Spanish and Quebec French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. The disc also provides optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles. This mix is predominantly front-centric, aligning closely with the original recordings from the duo's vintage comedy albums. Consequently, there are moments when dialogue is slightly muffled, harsh, or peaky, particularly noticeable in segments such as Ralph & Herbie. Despite this, the dialogue generally remains clear and full throughout, maintaining fidelity to its roots.

The sound design includes some modern embellishments and effects that offer occasional depth and ambience, especially during musical sequences. These moments exhibit a decent sense of depth and verve, with new stoner rock music tracks well integrated into the soundscape. However, effects are often fleeting and lack consistency and balance, leading to minor audio quality variations. Despite these inconsistencies, the dynamic range is commendably wide and clean, especially in musical performances which extend to deep low frequencies. Overall, while the track strives to maintain faithfulness to its origins, the added sound effects and modern mixes can sometimes overpower the primary audio, resulting in slight balance issues.

The extras included in the Blu-ray of "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie" provide a robust and entertaining addition to the release. The highlight is the inclusion of three distinct audio commentary tracks, featuring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong reminiscing about their past, directors Brandon and Eric Chambers along with producer Lou Adler diving into production specifics, and Tommy Chong alongside his son Paris offering personal anecdotes. Although "4.20 Mode" simply cycles through these commentaries, it adds a unique touch for devoted fans. Additionally, the features include a noteworthy live-recording session with Tommy Chong in the studio and a nostalgic slideshow mixing vintage photos with the animated stills. All extras are displayed in vivid 1080p quality with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, however, subtitles are not included.

Extras included in this disc:

• Audio Commentaries: Three commentary tracks with unique perspectives.
• 4.20 Mode: Plays the movie back-to-back with all commentary tracks.
• Medical Marijuana Blues Session with Blind Melon Chitlin': Shows Chong recording a new song for the film.
• Cheech and Chong Slideshow: Gallery of stills from the cartoon mixed with vintage photos.

"Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie!" is a nostalgic yet underwhelming attempt to revive the stoner comedy legacy of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, marking their first feature-length film together since 1984's "The Corsican Brothers." The movie, rather than introducing new material, simply animates classic sketches from their comedy albums and earlier films. This rehash approach results in a series of episodic segments connected loosely by a lackluster narrative involving a body crab named Buster seeking the duo's THC-infused blood. Though some iconic bits like "Let's Make a Dope Deal" and "Sister Mary Elephant" make an appearance, they lose their original charm in this new, crude animation style.

The animation aims for a grown-up version of "Ren & Stimpy," replete with gross-out gags and vulgar visual humor involving excrement, urine, erections, and farts. However, these graphical additions often detract from the core comedic elements that once made Cheech & Chong's routines so endearing. The simplicity and crudeness of the animation are overshadowed by poorly conceived connections between sketches, making the narrative thread feel forced and often distracting. While vocal performances, particularly by Cheech, deliver their trademark humor and character voices effectively, the overall experience fails to capture the raw, visceral quality of their live-action or audio-only originals.

Reflecting on cultural shifts, many sketches seem dated and reliant on stereotypes that may not sit well with modern audiences. Despite some moments of nostalgia and occasional laughs—especially for die-hard fans—the film struggles to find its place both as a standalone work and within the duo's legacy. "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie!" may evoke some chuckles when high, but for a sober audience, it lacks the wit and freshness necessary to withstand the test of time.

"Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie" offers a nostalgic revisit to the duo's classic sketches, reimagined in an animated format. While devoted fans might appreciate seeing these familiar antics in a new medium, the animation itself does little to enhance the humor and frequently detracts from the vocal performances that originally brought these skits to life. The animation style, reminiscent of 'Ren & Stimpy,' tends to flatten out the comedic impact, making the material feel alternately crass and uninspired.

From a technical perspective, the Blu-ray delivers a crisp image with vibrant colors, though minor artifacting is apparent. The audio mix shows respect for the limitations of the original recordings, but newly added effects and music sometimes overshadow the dialogues, further disrupting the comedic rhythm. The inclusion of three audio commentaries is noteworthy; however, it is unlikely that most viewers will find value in listening to all three tracks.

In conclusion, while "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie" successfully reunites the iconic duo and serves as a testament to their ongoing collaboration, it falls short of recapturing the magic of their earlier work. Fans might find some enjoyment in the nostalgia and additional commentaries, but for a truer experience, revisiting the original sketches or waiting for new material might be more rewarding.